Category Archives: Cryptocurrency

Art at the cryptocurrency conference Bitcoin 2021 Convention at the Mana Convention Center in Miami on June 4, 2021.

Marco Bello | AFP | Getty Images

Bitcoin climbed above $60,000 Friday, pushing the digital coin further toward its all-time high, as traders speculated U.S. regulators would clear the first bitcoin futures exchange-traded fund.

The world's biggest cryptocurrency jumped more than 8% to $62,307, according to Coin Metrics, notching its highest level since Apr. 17.

The Securities and Exchange Commission is set to allow the first U.S. bitcoin futures exchange-traded funds to start trading next week, a landmark victory for a cryptocurrency industry that has long sought permissions from Wall Street's top regulator, according to a person familiar with the matter.

Specifically, the person said the SEC isn't likely to block the ETFs proposed by ProShares and Invesco, which are based on futures contracts and were filed under mutual fund guidelines that SEC ChairmanGary Genslerthinks offer investors significant protection.

The ProShares Bitcoin Strategy ETF is scheduled to debut at the New York Stock Exchange on Tuesday, and experts believe the SEC unlikely to object to the product.

The CME bitcoin futures contract for October was last trading at $60,570, up about 4%.

Approval of an ETF that gives mainstream investors exposure to bitcoin would be a landmark for the crypto industry, which has long been pushing for greater acceptance of digital assets on Wall Street.

"The ETF news is being priced in with the market expecting an approval on Monday. This is driving the price up," Vijay Ayyar, head of Asia Pacific at cryptocurrency exchange Luno, told CNBC.

However, Ayyar cautioned that a rejection of ProShares' product could send bitcoin sharply lower.

Mikkel Morch, executive director at digital asset hedge fund ARK36, said bitcoin could rally above its near-$65,000 all-time high from April, but warned the cryptocurrency may subsequently undergo a "short-term pullback."

"Investors should be aware that the hopes for a sustained rally above the $60K barrier and further through the previous all-time high may as well turn into 'buy the rumour, sell the news' scenario," Morch said.

Not all cryptocurrencies got a boost from the ETF news Friday. Ether, the second-largest coin, rose 0.5% to $3,804 on spot exchanges. However, XRP and ada were both down about 2%.

Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies have been on a wild ride this year. The number one digital coin hit an all-time high above $64,000 in April, before slumping sharply on the back of a crackdown on the crypto market in China. It's since staged a comeback and has more than doubled in price so far this year.

Regulators have been taking a tougher line on crypto this year, as interest from investors has surged. The industry has been putting up a fight though, with Coinbase on Thursday calling on the U.S. to create a new regulator to oversee digital assets.

Earlier this week, Bank of England Deputy Governor Jon Cunliffe warned cryptocurrencies could spark a global financial crisis of similar magnitude to the 2008 crash.

"When something in the financial system is growing very fast, and growing in largely unregulated space, financial stability authorities have to sit up and take notice," Cunliffe said in a speech Wednesday.

Originally posted here:
Bitcoin tops $60,000 for first time in six months as traders bet on ETF approval - CNBC

Join gaming leaders online at GamesBeat Summit Next this upcoming November 9-10. Learn more about what comes next.

Valve is reportedly blocking cryptocurrency and NFT games on its Steam digital distribution network, according toAge of Rust developer SpacePirate Games.

The studio said on Twitter that Valve was going to remove all such games from the platform, based on a screenshot of Steams developer rules and guidelines. It said that games built on blockchain technology that issue or allow the exchange of cryptocurrencies or NFTs could not be distributed on Steam.

Steams point of view is that items have value and they dont allow items that can have real-world value on their platform, the developer said.

Three top investment pros open up about what it takes to get your video game funded.

Valve hasnt commented on the post yet. The company may be concerned over gambling laws in Washington state, where Valve is based. Valve could be worried about a ruling in 2018 by the federal appeals court that upheld a ruling that virtual chips in the social casino game Big Fish Casino qualified as a thing of value under Washington law.

That meant that the game was considered an illegal gambling operation. There are other successful NFT games in the market, such as Axie Infinity, which lets players buy and sell digital characters for a profit. Sky Mavis, the maker of Axie Infinity, raised $153 million at a $3 billion valuation. Such a ruling could have a big effect on a company like Sky Mavis, but the company does not distribute Axie Infinity on any app stores. It has built an audience of two million daily users even though it is only available via the web. Hence, it avoids gatekeepers like Steam.

Still, the ruling by Valve could have a real effect in the market, as many companies are on the fence over whether to make NFT games. NFTs use the transparent and secure digital ledger of blockchain to authenticate unique digital items. Those items can then be sold for higher prices at auction. This has been a good way for Sky Mavis to generate revenue and share the proceeds with its players.

Read more:
Steam reportedly blocks cryptocurrency and NFT games - VentureBeat

The Department of Justice is aggressively scrutinizing participants in the cryptocurrency marketsincluding financial institutions working with cryptocurrencyto thwart the use of the technology as a vehicle for money laundering and other illegal activity.

Even as cryptocurrency becomes more mainstream, it is the primary demand mechanism for ransomware payments, commonly underpins the operation of illegal or unregistered money services businesses, and is the preferred means of exchange of value on the dark web for drugs, weapons, and malware and other hacking tools.

On October 6, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced the creation of a National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team (NCET). According to the DOJ press release, NCET will tackle complex investigations and prosecutions of criminal misuses of cryptocurrency, particularly crimes committed by virtual currency exchanges, mixing and tumbling services [which mix identifiable cryptocurrency funds with others to prevent tracing], and money laundering infrastructure actors. NCET will also focus on the recovery of illicit proceeds stashed as cryptocurrency.

The DOJ press release uses particularly ominous sounding language to herald the new unit: Today we are launching the National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team to draw on the Departments cyber and money laundering expertise to strengthen our capacity to dismantle the financial entities that enable criminal actors to flourishand quite frankly to profitfrom abusing cryptocurrency platforms said Deputy Attorney General Monaco. As the technology advances, so too must the Department evolve with it so that were poised to root out abuse on these platforms and ensure user confidence in these systems.

NCET is the Departments most direct response to date to combatting cryptocurrency as a tool of criminality. In 2018, the DOJ Criminal Divisions Money Laundering and Asset Recovery Section (MLARS) established a Digital Currency Initiative focused on providing support and guidance to investigators, prosecutors, and other government agencies on cryptocurrency prosecutions and forfeitures, primarily in the form of education and training around the transmission, storage, and functionality of cryptocurrencies. In October 2020, the DOJ released a Cryptocurrency Enforcement Framework that outlined the potential threats posed by cryptocurrencies and summarized relevant laws and authorities.

Unlike the Initiative and the Framework, which focused on Department-wide educational outreach, NCETs mandate is to identify and prosecute cryptocurrency cases. In doing so, NCET will identify areas for increased investigative and prosecutorial focus and develop strategic priorities for cryptocurrency investigations. Priority targets already identified include the familiar list of bad actors or enterprises in this space: professional money launderers, ransomware schemes, human traffickers, and narcotics traffickers. However, NCET has also included financial institutions working with cryptocurrency on this list. The inclusion of financial institutions in a list that otherwise names criminal actors suggests a wariness, if not deep skepticism, at DOJ towards the fundamental legitimacy of cryptocurrency activity. This is a far cry from the introduction to the Framework, which recognized that distributed ledger technology, the technology underpinning cryptocurrencies, raises breathtaking possibilities for human flourishing.

Outside DOJ, other government agencies have also signaled an increased focus on cryptocurrency enforcement. In September, the SEC issued a Wells notice to a cryptocurrency exchange threatening to sue if the company moved forward with its plans for a cryptocurrency lending program, alleging that it would amount to the sale of unregistered securities. Weeks later, New Jersey and Texas securities regulators levied the same allegations against an existing cryptocurrency lending program, flagging serious concerns around the lack of oversight of the product and disclosures to its users. In June, FinCEN included cryptocurrency in its anti-money laundering national priorities and named its first ever Digital Currency Advisor in July. This year, Florida and Arkansas both updated their state money transmitter regulations to explicitly include cryptocurrency.

Financial institutions can mitigate the regulators concerns by updating and enhancing their existing risk-based anti-money laundering (AML) and financial crimes compliance programs to include cryptocurrency monitoring and reporting. New firms, however, and fintech companies in particular, should consider implementing their own AML and financial crimes compliance programs, including transaction monitoring, customer due diligence, and counterparty screening. Fintech companies in bank partnerships may rely on their bank partners compliance program, but will need to work together with the bank to ensure existing compliance infrastructure sufficiently addresses the risks pertaining to the cryptocurrency products and services the fintech company is offering.

See more here:
The Department of Justice Sets Cryptocurrency Squarely in its Sights - JD Supra

Whenever there's a high risk, there's almost always a chance for a high reward. In a time when regulators around the world are cracking down on the burgeoning cryptocurrency space, there's one company that's not only undeterred by setbacks but is thriving. Of course, I'm talking about Silvergate Capital(NYSE:SI), whose stock has returned 603.8% in the past year.

Heck, the cryptocurrency bank even bestedBitcoin's 477.4% return during the same period. So why is Silvergate so popular all of a sudden? Let's find out.

Image source: Getty Images.

Silvergate is a waypoint into the mysterious cryptocurrency realm. The company has four major areas of operations:

The company currently provides such services to 93 cryptocurrency exchanges and 771 institutional investors such as hedge funds. Notable clients include Binance.us,Coinbase, Fidelity Digital Assets,PayPal, andCME Group. It also has 360 customers engaged in activities such as crypto mining or building decentralized finance services.

During the second quarter of 2021, Silvergate facilitated a whopping $239.6 billion worth of transfers on its network, recognizing $11.3 million in revenue. Both represent significant increases over the $22.4 billion in SEN transactions and $2.4 million in revenue it brought in Q2 2020. Like any other bank, the company lends out money while only using a portion of its deposit as collateral in a process called fractional reserve banking. Total leverage increased more than tenfold in the past year to $258.5 million worth of loans in Q2.

Under the current international banking regulations (Basel III), a bank's capital must be at least 8% of its risk-weighted total assets (loans, mortgages, etc.). This is called the risk-based capital ratio (RBC). It ensures that a sudden stock sell-off or rise in default rates wouldn't wipe out a bank's capital due to the latter's leverage. The higher the ratio, the healthier the bank, but the less its profits due to less leverage.

Major U.S. banks typically have an RBC of 15% and possess a net interest margin (NIM) of between 2% to 5%. However, it's clear that Silvergate is a very conservative bank as its RBC stands at a whopping 48% while possessing a NIM of 1%. So there's definitely a lot of room for the company to leverage up and beef up its returns. What's more, its default rate stands at roughly 0%, compared to 0.05% for its competitor banks.

With the rise of the $172.15 billion decentralized finance (DeFi) industry, there are now more opportunities than ever for investors to buy and hold cryptos and earn fixed income with them. As a result, expect continued massive demand for Silvergate's fiat-crypto services. And don't forget about its ability to expand its loan portfolio and increase interest profits, either. Overall, I'd consider this a high-flying crypto stock to buy, even at 38 times earnings going forward.

This article represents the opinion of the writer, who may disagree with the official recommendation position of a Motley Fool premium advisory service. Were motley! Questioning an investing thesis -- even one of our own -- helps us all think critically about investing and make decisions that help us become smarter, happier, and richer.

The rest is here:
Here's a Top Cryptocurrency Stock to Buy Now - Motley Fool

Tougher regulation is needed to prevent the rapid growth in cryptocurrencies leading to financial instability, defrauding of consumers and the funding of terrorism, the International Monetary Fund has said.

The Washington-based IMF said the 10-fold increase in the market value of crypto assets digital or virtual currencies to more than $2tn since early 2020 required more active and collaborative supervision by governments.

In a chapter from its forthcoming Global Financial Stability Report, the IMF said many of the new cryptocurrencies lacked robust governance and risk practices.

Cryptocurrencies are an alternative way of making payments to cash or credit cards. The technology behind it allows the money to be sent directly to others without it having to pass through the banking system. For that reason they are outside the control of governments and are unregulated by financial watchdogs and transactions can be made in a way that keeps you reasonably pseudonymous.

If you own a crypto-asset you control a secret digital key that you can use to prove to anyone on the network that a certain amount of that asset is yours. If you spend it, you tell the entire network that you have transferred ownership of it, and use the same key to prove that you are telling the truth. Over time, the history of all those transactions becomes a lasting record of who owns what: that record is called the blockchain.

Bitcoin was one of the first and biggest cryptocurrencies and has been on a wild ride since its creation in 2009, sometimes surging in value as investors have piled in and occasionally crashing back down. Dogecoin which started as a joke has also seen a stratospheric rise in value.

Sceptics warn that the lack of central control make crypto-assets ideal for criminals and terrorists, while libertarian monetarists enjoy the idea of a currency with no inflation and no central bank.

The whole concept of cryptocurrencies has been criticised for its ecological impact, with "mining" for new coins requiringvast energy reserves and the associated carbon footprintof the whole system.

Richard Partington and Martin Belam

Thank you for your feedback.

Dimitris Drakopoulos, Fabio Natalucci and Evan Papageorgiou, authors of the chapter, said in a blog that crypto exchanges had faced significant disruptions during periods of market turbulence. There are also several high-profile cases of hacking-related thefts of customer funds. So far, these incidents have not had a significant impact on financial stability. However, as crypto assets become more mainstream, their importance in terms of potential implications for the wider economy is set to increase, they said.

The blog noted the substantial risks to consumers from inadequate disclosure and oversight, given that some currencies were likely created solely for speculation purposes or even outright fraud. The (pseudo) anonymity of crypto assets also creates data gaps for regulators and can open unwanted doors for money laundering, as well as terrorist financing.

The IMF also highlighted potential problems with the four-fold increase in the supply of stablecoins cryptocurrencies that aim to peg their value, usually against the US dollar to $120bn (88bn) during 2021.

Sign up to the daily Business Today email or follow Guardian Business on Twitter at @BusinessDesk

The blog said: Given the composition of their reserves, some stablecoins could be subject to runs, with knock-on effects to the financial system. The runs could be driven by investor concerns about the quality of their reserves or the speed at which reserves can be liquidated to meet potential redemptions.

Last month, China made transactions in cryptocurrencies illegal, but the IMF said emerging and developing countries appeared to be leading the way with their use. This risked damaging the ability of central banks to effectively implement monetary policy and potentially created financial stability risks, it added.

As a first step, regulators and supervisors need to be able to monitor rapid developments in the crypto ecosystem and the risks they create by swiftly tackling data gaps. The global nature of crypto assets means that policymakers should enhance cross-border coordination to minimise the risks of regulatory arbitrage and ensure effective supervision and enforcement, the IMF said.

Read more here:
IMF warns of global risks from unregulated cryptocurrency boom - The Guardian

Altcoins.

Jack Taylor/Getty Image

Growth around non-fungible tokens and decentralized finance helped prices for some altcoins soar during the third quarter, and investors are looking for the next breakout as the fourth quarter begins.

The global cryptocurrency market is again approaching the $2 trillion mark, as prices for Cardano's ada, solana and other altcoins have taken off, with cardano ada now the third most-traded crypto.

Now in the months ahead, investors will sharpen their focus on the benefits and shortfalls emerging from recent speed and efficiency upgrades on the blockchain networks of key altcoins, Ed Moya, senior currency analyst at Oanda, told Insider.

"Everyone has been focused on which altcoins are going to address that scalability concern that you have with ethereum and bitcoin," he said.

"People have to understand which businesses are going to be the leaders in NFTs or smart contracts," and other operations, he said. "I think that's where the market is and education takes some time. The industry is ripe for consolidation."

Here are six altcoins (in alphabetical order) experts tell Insider they'll be watching during the fourth quarter and beyond:

1) Avalanche (AVAX) Market Capitalization: $14.5 billionYear-to-date performance: Up 1954% at $65.94

The blockchain developed by Ava Labs is a smart contracts platform for decentralized applications and its AVAX token began trading on Coinbase Pro this past week.

Avalanche "is way faster than ethereum and it wants to be even faster, which is great because I think that's very important when it comes to finance and DeFi projects and applications," Tally Greenberg, head of business development at Allnodes, told Insider.

"It's a promising technology that basically does more for less," she said, adding that it uses a proof-of-stake system that's more energy-efficient than a proof-of-work one based on mining, she said.

Steve Ehrlich, founder and CEO of cryptocurrency-asset broker Voyager Digital, told Insider he sees Avalanche as a viable alternative to ethereum. "As soon as they start adding some projects and art on their NFT network, you'll start to see a lot more consumers buying and selling NFTs," on Avalanche, he said.

Ehrlich said Avalanche, as well as solana and cardano, are cheaper alternatives to ethereum, which has high fees for conducting transactions.

2) Boost Coin Fully diluted market capitalization: $53 million Year-to-date performance: Up 293% to $0.0505

Launched in August, Boost Coin fuels the Boost ecosystem that's centered on decentralized finance tools. Boost Swap, a decentralized exchange, is the first tool, with the company behind it saying it's similar to crypto exchanges Uniswap, SushiSwap, and PancakeSwap.

Decentralized exchanges, or DEXs, offer a peer-to-peer platform where parties use smart contracts to execute their trades and don't rely on intermediaries such as clearing houses.

"There's a lot of value in the exchanges market," Dr. Don Basile, CEO of Monsoon Blockchain, told Insider, highlighted in part by this year's trading debut of Coinbase, now a $48 billion centralized crypto exchange.

Boost's approach to connect buyers and sellers without a centralized entity is a "potentially disruptive idea," he said.

Boost can be acquired by exchanging ethereum for it using Uniswap or Boost Swap. But Basile said it's too early to say whether its price is undervalued or overvalued as the coin is just a few weeks old.

Meanwhile, Basile is also the founder of Bitcoin Latinum, which is expected to begin trading around the week of October 21. The energy-efficient cryptocurrency is aimed at delivering faster transaction speeds and lower costs to high-growth markets such as media and gaming.

3) Cardano adaMarket Capitalization: $69.3 billionYear-to-date performance: Up 1092% at $2.16

Cardano's profile and that of its ada token, have boomed in recent months. The network last month ran its alonzo upgrade that brought smart contract capability to its network, a move that could bolster its competitiveness with ethereum.

"A lot of our customers hold a lot of cardano on our platform so we see quite an increase of people being interested," in the network, Ehrlich said.

And after recently being introduced to "some pretty cool" art built on Cardano, he thinks the network will make some headway soon in the NFT space.

Moya sees a lot of investors mixed on Cardano ada after its price climbed to $3. But he added, "There are still a lot of institutional players that are eyeing it as interesting altcoin to hold."

4) Crypto.com Coin CRO Market Capitalization: $4.2 billion Year-to-date performance: Up 183% at $0.16531

Crypto.com is a cryptocurrency exchange and consumer financial services company whose Coin serves as the token for Crypto.com's Chain, a decentralized open-source blockchain launched in March.

CRO is used for staking, payments, and settlements, said Greenberg, who thinks CRO is undervalued.

"It's in use on a daily basis," in part through Crypto.com's prepaid Visa card and Crypto.com, she said, adding that its Chain network has a sustainability goal of becoming carbon negative by next year.

5) DogecoinMarket Capitalization: $27.3 billionYear-to-date performance: Up 4307% at $0.2064

Oanda's Moya put the hugely popular meme coin on his watch list to see if it eventually crashes, which he thinks would actually be a positive sign.

"There are too many coins that don't have the financing, that don't have the infrastructure in place to be a legitimate investment," he said. "It's hard to go from a meme coin to a legitimate coin."

Tesla boss Elon Musk in August backed billionaire investor Mark Cuban's claim that dogecoin is the strongest cryptocurrency as a medium of exchange. Cuban's NBA team, the Dallas Mavericks, accepts dogecoin as a payment vehicle.

6) Polygon (previously MATIC)Market Capitalization: $7.6 billionYear-to-date performance: Down 27% at $1.236

Polygon is designed to scale ethereum chains and develop the blockchain's infrastructure. It's caught the eye of Mark Cuban who earlier this year added the platform to his investment portfolio.

Polygon, originally called Matic, created the Matic token that's used on transactions on the network. Matic is also among the roughly 40 altcoins on the watch list for Allnodes' Greenberg. She sees Matic as undervalued as it has low network fees and just enough volatility to benefit trading.

"For those who are looking for a less aggressive investment strategy, there's a staking opportunity. So it's a well-round blockchain and cryptocurrency."

Polygon uses the proof-of-stake system of securing a cryptocurrency's network under which users put forward or "stake" some of their coins to gain the right to verify transactions and, in exchange, earn more coins. Greenberg said users recently could make an annual return of 13.65% on their investments, "which is huge."

Go here to read the rest:
Altcoin outlook: 6 alternative cryptocurrencies to watch in Q4 - Markets Insider

Bear said he signed up for a cryptocurrency and blockchain course after he found out the University of Jamestown was offering the class this fall.

It is interesting. It is a unique class because the ecosystem is always changing with cryptocurrency, said Bear, a junior majoring in management information systems.

University of Jamestown offered a cryptocurrency and blockchain course as a special topics class this fall. There are 15 students in the class with most being computer science and information technology majors.

Fifteen for a starting class where there was a short three-sentence course description and thats all the students knew about it, said Jakob Barnard, assistant professor in the computer science and technology department who is teaching the class. I thought it was pretty promising. It means there is interest in the topic.

The cryptocurrency and blockchain course is a special-topics class, which is a mechanism that the university uses to try new things and see how they work, said Chris Redfearn, associate provost and dean of the undergraduate college at UJ.

Cryptocurrency and blockchain are subjects that are generating a lot of interest among students and the general public, he said.

Im excited that one of our faculty members has taken this on as a course to help our students to understand this new and emerging technology, he said.

Barnard said having cryptocurrency and blockchain in the course name was important because the class is not just about cryptocurrency.

Its blockchain through the lens of cryptocurrency, he said.

Cryptocurrency is a type of digital money that can be used for payments or held as an investment similar to the stock market. Cryptocurrency is not a government currency and doesnt have a central bank, interest rates or a long history of exchange rates against other currencies.

Blockchain is decentralized and consists of records called blocks that record transactions across many computers.

Blockchain is an unchangeable record and records getting packaged together, Barnard said.

We package records together and then we link it to the previous package, which links to the previous package, he said. That makes our chain, and thats where the term blockchain comes from. Our package is called a block.

Mining is when complex mathematical problems double check that block, Barnard said.

When you own some cryptocurrency, you own a little key card to a tiny chunk of that block and everybody has checked it to agree, he said. Nobody owns that little chunk but you.

Blockchain is a new technology so it doesnt have any curricular guidance for teaching it, Barnard said. He said the Association for Computing Machinery - an educational and scientific computing society - just updated its guidance and mentions that blockchain exists as an emerging technology.

Barnard said he wants students to figure out how cryptocurrency and blockchain could apply to them and to carry that information forward to be prepared for their careers.

Barnard said the class has discussions on why cryptocurrency has value. He said the volatility of cryptocurrency prices helps drive some of the discussions in class.

He asks questions to students about cryptocurrency laws and regulations, the fluctuation in cryptocurrency prices, if it is financially worth it to mine cryptocurrency and the use of electricity to mine cryptocurrency. Then he gets students to do their own research so they can have discussions during class.

How will this impact you is kind of the big question we are trying to get the students to answer for themselves, he said. How does that impact things you might have learned down in the business department? How does exploring cryptocurrency, the news, the hype, right now if you had to do a social media campaign on it, how would that impact things?

Barnard said the university has been supportive and helpful in getting the class started. He said the university granted him a budget to get equipment for the class.

Redfearn said the class gives students an opportunity to learn about cryptocurrency and blockchain technology in a hands-on way.

It really is the best kind of learning in which students are applying the learning they get in a classroom in a real-world situation, he said. The fact that professor Barnard has developed a cryptocurrency rig and is having the students work actively with the machine, I think it is going to help them learn more about it in a concrete way.

Barnard built a cryptocurrency mining machine that has six graphic cards and runs a software program called NiceHash that picks which cryptocurrency is the most profitable to mine.

Barnard said the NiceHash software has a little bit of an overhead cost to use but he does not have to worry about managing the mining machine. NiceHash has an app that can be downloaded on a cellphone, and Barnard can make sure the mining machine is running 24/7.

The scale in which our machine is operating will allow students to see how it works and what some of the issues and challenges are related to mining and computing power and everything that goes into it, Redfearn said. I think it is a perfect machine for students to learn on.

Barnard said he will have about six months worth of cryptocurrency mining data for class discussions.

We have data that we generated with our stuff on campus, he said. We are not just grabbing magical numbers from the internet.

Barnard said he has been working with Applied Blockchain Inc. on possible partnerships with the class.

Applied Blockchain delivers cryptocurrency mining and infrastructure solutions to its customers, according to its website. The company is building a cryptocurrency hosting facility that will be located about 7 miles north of Jamestown.

Applied Blockchain has engineers and other experts who are knowledgeable about cryptocurrency and blockchain, Barnard said. He said it will be an excellent opportunity for him and students to learn from experts how they manage software and work with blockchain applications.

I can talk about small-scale run mining rigs, he said. Well, alright can your folks with our technology nowadays dial in do a Zoom call with us and explain to our students what it means to scale from six graphic cards to a massive facility and what technology is involved with that.

Redfearn said the conversations about potential partnerships with Applied Blockchain are in the preliminary stages and he is pleased that the company reached out to the university but it is too early to speculate what that may look like.

Those conversations will continue to develop over time, he said. We are interested in seeing what the possibilities are and having our students do some work there.

See more here:
University of Jamestown offers cryptocurrency and blockchain class - Jamestown Sun

Cryptocurrency prices today continued to gain marginally. Bitcoin price jumped nearly 2% to $43,842. The world's largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization is up 51% this year (year-to-date), and much below its record of near $65,000 it had hit in April, as it came under regulatory crackdowns during the third quarter.

Ether, the coin linked to ethereum blockchain and the second largest crypto, also gained as it was up more than 2% to $3,028. Cardano prices were up marginally at $2.11 whereas dogecoin rose 1% to $0.20. The performance of other digital tokens including XRP, Litecoin, Stellar were mixed over the last 24 hours.

Bitcoin was hit on multiple fronts during the month, including a botched roll-out of the coin as legal tender in El Salvador and tightening of regulatory oversights in the US and China.

"Bitcoin is still bearish. However, it is worth paying attention to an interesting point: the RSI indicator showed a break from the current pattern, which confirms some buy momentum. There may be a retirement from present value in the coming weeks," said Siddharth Menon, COO of cryptocurrency exchange WazirX.

"The dollar index is consolidating at current levels and may show some weakening in the coming days. Altcoins were also generally boring. Ethereum vs Bitcoin is consolidating in the Triangle. Bulls are expected to pick up ETH above $ 3000 levels, meaning the trend of ETH-BTC will leave this channel pattern. The uptrend could bring the ETH to a resistance level of 4,444 at $ 3,800. However, the recent halt in mining activities may play a role," Menon added.

China's central bank last week said all financial transactions involving cryptocurrencies are illegal, sounding the death knell for the digital trade in the country after a crackdown on the volatile digital tokens.

China has been tightening its crackdown on cryptocurrencies, and its efforts to restrain the trading and mining are adding to the wild moves in bitcoin and other markets, which are already down hard from records set earlier this year.

(With inputs from agencies)

Subscribe to Mint Newsletters

* Enter a valid email

* Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter.

Never miss a story! Stay connected and informed with Mint. Download our App Now!!

See original here:
Cryptocurrency prices today: Bitcoin, ether, dogecoin, cardano gain. Latest rates here - Mint

Every time Beijing announces a crackdown on their industry, the running joke among the crypterati is that China has already banned cryptocurrency 18 times. Chinese government agencies have issued a string of increasingly restrictive but never conclusive legal prohibitions of various aspects of crypto since 2013; all the while, Chinas crypto industry has thrived. Turns out the 19th time might be the charm.

On September 24, Chinas central bank and its National Development and Reform Commission issued two documents. One outlawed cryptocurrency mining following an earlier crackdown in May, and the other declared all cryptocurrency transactions illegal and all companies providing cryptocurrency trading services to Chinese citizens as engaged in illicit financial activity. Some of the usual nonplussed aplomb was deployed on crypto Twitter, but the general reaction to the ban is that this time China is serious.

The ban is sweeping, absolute, comprehensive. It is not focused on some partial aspect, says Jonathan Padilla, a cofounder and deputy director of Stanford Universitys Future of Digital Currency Initiative, who has conducted field research at Chinas central bank. And it seems that top-level government officials are taking this on. The authorities signing off on at least one of the two documents include the Ministry of Public Security, the Supreme People's Court, and the Supreme People's Procuratoratesuggesting that aggressive enforcement is likely.

Several exchanges, wallets, and other cryptocurrency companies have announced that they will stop providing services to users in mainland China and enforced a sweeping block of all Chinese IP addresses on their services. Given the wording of the official document, which explicitly singles out overseas exchanges catering to Chinese residents, the industry appears to have taken an overcautious approach. How much individual citizens will be threatened by the new level of enforcement remains to be seen, says Luisa Kinzius, a director at China-focused consultancy Sinolytics. [But] the announcement is also targeting any Chinese citizen working for crypto-related companies abroad, declaring their work as illegal and putting them at risk of being legally investigated.

The ramp up of Chinas repression of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies was always going to happen. Cryptos borderless and unregulated nature runs counter to the Chinese governments vision for a state-dominated economy. In addition, Beijing sees cryptocurrencies as the epitome of mindless guesswork. The Chinese government just restated in its new 14th five-year plan Chinas economic planning outline for the next five yearsthat the financial system should primarily serve the real economy, not speculation, Kinzius says. China is very hesitant towards pure financial speculation due financial stability concernsand, of course, cryptocurrency is very much driven by speculation.

Those general concerns are now compounded by recent developments. In September 2020, China announced its plan to end its year-on-year growth of 22CO2 emissions by 2030 and become carbon neutral by 2060. That necessarily entails a crackdown on cryptocurrency mining, the energy-consuming and often carbon-belching process used to maintain a cryptocurrencys network, which Chinese authorities regard as having almost no benefit for the country's economy. On the other hand, China is currently piloting its Digital Chinese Yuan, a state-backed digital currency designed to offer the surface-level convenience of cryptocurrency with none of the privacy and decentralization benefits of itor, arguably, its lack of governmental oversight. From Beijings point of view, to allow the coexistence of the Digital Chinese Yuan with any other virtual asset doesnt make sense. China, Kinzius says, was interested in avoiding competition [from] cryptocurrencies, especially as it prepares to make the Digital Chinese Yuan available to foreign users during the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics.

To ensure a successful adoption of the digital currency, China has no interest in other rising, attractive alternative payment options, she says.

Read the original:
China's Sweeping Cryptocurrency Ban Was Inevitable - WIRED

New Delhi: The cryptocurrency market was almost flat on Friday as investors turned cautious over the risky asset class. Volatility in global markets has added to the woes of investors.

Top 10 cryptocurrencies were trading with mixed trends and were little changed at 9.30 hours IST. Bitcoin, Binance Coin and Polkadot were among the gainers, whereas Solana, Ethereum, XRP and Carndano lost a per cent each.

The global crypto market cap was almost flat, marginally up, to $1.92 trillion compared to the last day. Similarly, the total crypto market volume tanked about 12 per cent to $82.83 billion.

Cryptocurrencies continue to flourish despite the regulatory tightening in China earlier this week, said CoinCX Research Team.

"While the downfall in September was an opportunity for tokens such as Avalanche (AVAX) and Solana (SOL) that surged 52% and 23%, respectively, the ever-changing market highlights the volatility of cryptocurrency and its continuous growth," it added.

Come October 31, Bitcoin, the first digital cryptocurrency will turn 13. Cryptocurrency has come a long way since Satoshi Nakamoto, the pseudonymous author of Bitcoin white paper, created the virtual currency based on blockchain technology.

Crypto Cart: Quick Glance Bitcoin: $43,625.94, up 0.41%Ethereum: $3,009.87, down 0.74%Tether: $1, down 0.01%Cardano: $2.11, down 0.77%Binance Coin: $385.87, up 1.44%XRP: $0.9512, down 1.22%Solana: $139.53, down 0.73%USD Coin: $1, up 0.01%Polkadot: $28.77, up 1.28%Dogecoin: $0.2026, down 0.70%

(Source: coinmarketcap.com, data as of 09.30 hours, IST on October 01, 2021)(Note: Price change in last 24 hours)Tech View by ZebPay Trade DeskCryptocurrency market has lost about 60 per cent of the total market cap in the last week with the top two digital assets Bitcoin and Ethereum giving up significant gains from their all-time highs (ATH).

Market Cap DominanceTotal market cap: $1.41 trillionBitcoin: 46.2%Ethereum: 17.2%

Technical Outlook :

BTC might see a pull-back relief rally above $36,000 but should face resistance at $42,500. Bullish patterns evolve above the resistance levels of $42,500.

The analytics above suggest that Bitcoin has been looked at as the most preferred among digital assets in times of uncertainty.

In addition to the above, the falling open interest with a fall in prices is giving indication of a relief rally soon.

(Views and recommendations given in this section are the analysts' own and do not represent those of ETMarkets.com. Please consult your financial adviser before taking any position in the asset/s mentioned.)

Visit link:
Top cryptocurrency prices today: Solana, Ethereum, XRP and Carndano shed 1% - Economic Times